By Alexander Thomas Rydle
For three months, the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, have been alive with the powerful roar of protests. Since the Parliamentary Elections on October 26, 2024, in which the Georgian Dream (GD) party emerged victorious once more against all odds, the people have stood in defiance.
But is it just the election results that have ignited this outcry? What lies beneath the surface of the local discontent?
The party, in power since 2012, seemed to lead Georgia – a former Soviet republic – towards a brighter future, focused on European integration. But in 2022, it suddenly felt like the Georgian Dream steered the nation’s path in a different direction.
Georgian Dream
Let’s take a closer look at the Georgian Dream’s actions between 2022 and 2024.
Although the party criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and offered refuge to many Ukrainian citizens, GD made a decision not to join Western sanctions against Russia. It led to significant political polarisation: while some Georgians viewed the decision as necessary for national stability (considering the Russo-Georgian War of 2008), many others, especially pro-Western groups, were frustrated by what they perceived as a failure to align with international efforts against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In spring 2023, GD attempted to pass a “Russian law”, requiring foreign-funded entities to register as foreign influence agents. Since a similar law is in effect in Russia, this action was seen as an effort to apply Russia’s political and economic system to Georgia’s existing structure. Instantly, it sparked fierce protests, which rocked the streets of Tbilisi and the law was hastily withdrawn. Irakli Kobakhidze, one of the party’s leaders, promised not to raise this topic again.
And yet, GD passed the law again in May 2024, this time criticising the protests that arose once again. This shocking move deepened the rift between the government and its people, but the light of hope still loomed ahead – the Parliamentary Elections on the 26th of October, which could fix the current situation.
But the elections turned out to be heavily flawed, marred by vote-buying, intimidation, and box-stuffing in plain sight. Opposition and the fifth president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, didn’t accept the results of the elections and demanded a recontest. Demonstrations shook the streets of Tbilisi once more, marching before the Georgian Parliament and Tbilisi’s City Court. Salome Zourabichvili actively supported the protestors and appeared at the rallies, where she gave inspirational speeches and called the Georgian Dream out on their actions.
But unfortunately, the citizens of Georgia are still waiting for their demands to be heard.
Delay of the EU integration process
A month after the elections, when people still protested on the streets, GD announced the delay of the EU integration process on November 28, 2024. This is when the demonstrator’s frustration reached a boiling point and this time, their anger knew no boundaries.
Fireworks were fired right at the special forces soldiers, deployed specifically to suppress the protests with tear gas and rubber bullets; demonstrators burned roadblocks, built barricades and added flammable materials, setting them on fire; some people got to the balcony of GD’s office, attempting to break in; demonstrators caused a fire on the Parliament’s backyard.
The brutal confrontation continued every night for a full week – many people went to hospitals with severe injuries and burns. To strip the demonstrators of their only weapons against the attacking police forces, the government hastily prohibited the import and distribution of the fireworks, closing down shops and ceasing any goods that could fire or blow up.
Slowly, the protestors were forced to take on a more peaceful way of expressing their dissatisfaction. But they never stopped and incorporated scheduled strikes in different sectors, helping workers join the ongoing rallies.
On December 14, 2024, the Georgian Dream elected a new president, Mikheil Kavelashvili (a former football player), but the election process was highly controversial for various reasons, one of them being that Mikheil Kavelashvili was the sole candidate and he was elected without competition by a 300-member electoral college composed of members from Parliament, local councils, and regional representatives (securing 224 votes out of 225).
This election was the first to utilize an indirect voting system after the constitutional amendments that were put into force on December 16, 2018. Opposition parties, constitutional experts, and parts of the international community deemed his presidency illegitimate, asserting that Salome Zourabichvili remained the rightful president.
The citizens’ viewpoint
Amid this intense political crisis, we explored the lives of Georgian citizens to understand their views on the current situation and their vision for the future of Georgia. For the safety of the people who shared their concerns with us, we changed their names.
At first, we encountered a couple of pro-Russian Georgians. They didn’t go to protests, yet they felt eager to express their position.
For example, Kakha, a taxi driver and a representative of an older generation, pointed out his difficulty in seeing how Georgia could thrive in the European Union when language barriers remained: “Why go to a place where you won’t be able to speak, understand others and work? It just doesn’t make any sense. I know Russian, so if I won’t be able to earn enough here, I would better go working or open a business in Russia.”
Another such example of refusing the English language we saw with Nino, a Georgian of the same age group. She was an accountant for a big company in Moscow during the USSR times: “I read the so-called “Russian law”, and you know what? There is nothing bad, the government is just making sure that we are independent, and that’s the right thing to do! I know Russian and this is hard language enough to know and speak. Besides, Russia is huge and they do the right things, and if something happens, I can just go there – and be able to understand people.”
As she spoke to us in Russian, her granddaughter was watching us, not understanding a single word of our spoken language. She tried to speak with us in English: “My grandmother wants me to learn Russian, but I like English more. It’s interesting and I also know German!” Nino expressed her dissatisfaction with her granddaughter.
“I don’t understand anything she says to me in English,” she confessed, “but Russian is important to know too, to understand their culture better.”
The Georgian flag
In contrast, Georgians like Maia strive to wire their brain differently. Born in Georgia, Maia knows four languages – Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian and English. She works as a dental surgeon in the very heart of Tbilisi and she witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union during her younger years.
“I don’t like the fact that we still have the secret intelligence services akin to KGB and now they are given a new life with all the rallies. Repressions seem to be back,” she said with concern. “But what’s the point? The crimes of our government never went unnoticed, they won’t be able to hide them by arresting the demonstrators. People ‘up there’ have absolutely no idea what they’re doing – in fact, they’re isolating us from the world.”
An architect, Levan, who doesn’t know much English, said he stands firmly for the continuation of the EU integration process: “The war that happens in Ukraine is insanity and it must stop immediately. I don’t know what our politicians are doing, going astray from the West. I don’t understand what has happened to my home lately,” he added sadly, “what happened to Tbilisi?..”
A third side to the conflict
As we inspected different political worldviews, we discovered a third side to the conflict.
For instance, Tamar, a young woman working in the beauty industry, rejected both Russian and European influence, advocating for Georgia to be independent: “It would be great for Georgia to become an independent country from either Russia or the European Union. Since we have everything we need and we can produce stuff ourselves – we have our signature wines, cheeses, sweets, everything. But as we can see, the people who rule this country, are not interested in it. All they are interested in is money… it’s sickening what they’re doing.”
A taxi driver, Zurab, has also expressed his anxiety about the future of Georgia. “In my family, I have both Georgians and Russians, and some went working to Europe,” he explained, “and I am not against any of them, no matter what political opinion each of them has. It’s simply because of independence – sovereignty, if I may say this word – each of us has, and mutual respect.
“And yet we can work together on arising issues as a family. I would wish the same for Georgia: to be independent of everyone and yet be able to offer and receive help. I am not pro-Russian and I am also not pro-European. I am just a Georgian man who wants to live his life in his own country, is that too much to ask for?”
These diverse voices show a nation in transition. It’s clear that the protests are not simply about political opposition, but about the people’s right to shape their own future.
The story of these protests is truly inspiring because no matter how many fines or restrictions the government imposes on its own dissatisfied citizens, they just won’t budge. As an answer, protestors created their own non-profit organisation that helped pay many fines for the demonstrators and bail them out of incarceration. Even fireworks, which today are scarce goods (and lawfully restricted weapons), can still sometimes be seen blowing up in the sky above the Parliament.
A view of Tbilisi
Leave a Reply